A friend sent me this link over IRC earlier about some UK fishwrap’s campaign to ban jackets with hoods on them. After much laughing, I was about to make a post sticking another fork in Britain..
..Until I popped it into Google and found this article from Alabama.
Mobile police are looking to ban the sale of hooded jackets that zip up over the face and have been used in several recent robberies.
…
“I’m almost to the point of outrage concerning the hoodies,” Police Chief Phillip Garrett said. “I don’t think these should be sold. The only reason you would buy one is to disguise your identity.”
Or, you know, you could buy one to keep your face warm in the winter and stuff. There’s probably dozens of other non-criminal reasons where that came from. But isn’t that beside the point? Last I checked, we live in a free country where we don’t need “reasons” to own things. Likewise, I seem to remember that the police work for us rather than rule us.
Now, maybe it’s just me, but banning an article of clothing doesn’t really sound like an effective way to fight crime. Especially since the “outrageous” and “terrifying” ability to hide one’s face can easily be replicated with a fifty cent bandanna. If that’s the best idea any of these people can come up with, maybe they should really be looking into a new line of work that doesn’t require so much thinking..